DC's proposed bike lanes 2013

Following a recent meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee's Facilities sub-committee, DDOT has released a map of proposed bike lanes, bike boulevards, cycle-tracks and shared lanes for construction in 2013. The map is below. Here's a google map.

The map shows a pair of crossed bike boulevards in far NW at Jenifer and 41st Streets.

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I'm sure most readers know this, but if you're in the google map, you can click on the "bicycling" tab to see how these proposed lanes interact with--or don't--current lanes.

Would really like to see M Street happen, as it would massively increase the utility of the L Street track. Also, I hope the proposed New Mexico Ave lanes are able to go through this year, and not get blocked by a few groups of neighbors like they were on the last attempt.

@Shalom -- I think 6th street has the potential to be pretty high volume. It currently operates as a 6-lane undivided road for much of its length, and it would be a particularly important connection for southbound bicycle traffic in the morning rush, which doesn't really have a good connection east of 11th Street, so it would serve people coming from LeDroit Park, Shaw, and Bloomingdale, as well as people connecting from the Q or R Street bike lanes. 7th has a bike lane that ends at M, so doesn't connect through the hectic churn of Mt. Vernon Square.

For Northbound traffic, it's not as much of a big deal, as there's a bike lane along 5th Street, 1-way from NY Ave north. But again, this would start a couple of blocks closer to downtown, and provide a visible option.

I also think completing the 4th Street lanes south of the National Gallery is a big connection that is currently missing (other than the 6 blocks currently existing), connecting the Pennsylvania Ave lanes to the Anacostia Riverfront Trail.

That said, there are plenty of other key routes I'd like to see:
- Pennsylvania Ave west of the White House to 22nd Street, as well as lanes on 22nd Street that would connect to the L and M Street cycletracks. Whether a center-track or standard lanes, the road is currently overbuilt for the amount of motor vehicle traffic it serves, and there is a significant amount of bicycle traffic already.
- H and or I Streets NW (and H Street connecting to 3rd Street NW and the bike boulevards). Either a 15th Street-esque two-way cycle track, or something similar to the L and M Street versions.
- K street between 30th and 31st Streets NW. Two missing blocks prevented a seamless off-street connection between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Rock Creek Park Trail.

The Google map shows bike lanes on West Virginia Avenue between Trinidad and Gallaudet's campus. The note says "Community Outreach needed," though DDOT already presented to the neighborhood association, and the reception was a step above hostile.

Putting bike lanes on West Virginia, at this point, will bring howls of protest. I would LOVE them, personally.

(I think a better plan would be a cycle-track on the west side of the street, as there are hardly any curb cuts for nearly six-tenths of a mile.)

Anyway, it just goes to demonstrate that this list is still aspirational, not necessarily a sure bet.

Construction of a cycle track on NoMa's "Main Street" (First Street, NE) is set to begin soon as part of the reconstruction of First Street. The two-way curb-separated cycle track will stretch from Union Station (Columbus Circle) to NoMa Station (M Street).

Can anybody inform me what a "Bike Boulevard" might look like through DDOT's eyes?

I welcome more cycling specific infrastructure in upper NW. Historically it seems the approach has been to confine commuters to high speed arterials and festoon the neighborhoods with 4-way stops to discourage cut-throughs. Leaving poor choices for the lawful cyclist.

Hooray for filling in the missing bit of 14th St.! The shown sections of 4th SW are pretty chill, but it will be nice to have the protected space and narrower travel lanes to prevent speeding. I pointed out this street to DDOT staff, though, as another example of a designated bicycle route where signals seem timed expressly to stop bikes at every single block.

@JeffB: you mean in general or DDOT-specific? Bike boulevards (the new term of art is "neighborhood greenway") are pretty common out west, e.g., Berkeley, Palo Alto, Portland, and Vancouver, and started arriving in Minneapolis recently.

What I think would be good is to add some north /south bike lanes in Foggy Bottom. There are a lot of bike commuters going to State, World Bank, IMF etc. The car traffic especially in the southern part of Foggy Bottom is very fast. At rush hour 19th street is a four lane highway with car speeds to match. Let’s get a bike lane on that.

A 6thStNW/Rt1 cycle track would be amazing. Currently too many cyclists looking for a safe/low traffic route *going south* use the 5th St *northbound* bike lanes. It's a hazard, but still more safe than NJ Ave or 6th St during rush hour (see pic on unusually hi traffic day: https://twitter.com/ShawingtonTimes/status/306527385858228224 ).